Topic: Changing my hosting provider

I'm going to change my current web hosting provider for my forum site. I'm thinking of 2 companies. GoldPuma because of their cheap web hosting packages with month to month payments, and Hostgator because of their good reviews on the web.
My forum members are mostly from UK. GP's servers are located in USA and UK, but HG doesn't have any server in UK. If I choose Hostgator as my web hosting provider, does this affect my website speed for its members from UK?